Understanding Children and Adolescents who have Experienced Trauma through Neglect, Abuse and Separation

Content Summary:

Caring for children and adolescents who have experienced Developmental Trauma through abuse and neglect and who present with increasingly complex needs and behaviour, can be extremely challenging for carers and professionals.

Changes in the way that the brain develops and functions is a direct response to adapting to the external environment within which a baby or child is developing. Neuroscience shows that the brain is plastic or malleable throughout life; and how with stimulation, new connections are made. Therefore, with the provision of supportive and enriching caring environments for traumatised children, recovery is always hopeful.

Helping carers and professionals to understand how trauma impacts on a developing brain enables them to gain a deeper understanding of the child’s complex functioning and behaviour and to meet the child’s needs to enable recovery, as well as bringing greater compassion to the relationship between them.

Session One : Learning Outcomes

As a result of attending this training you can learn about:

• the neurosequential model of brain development and the mechanisms through which healthy brain development is fostered through positive and responsive relationships.
• how early childhood neglect, abuse and trauma can have an impact on the physiology of brain and body development as well as how memories are stored
• how early trauma can impact on a child’s cognitive, social and emotional functioning, as well as how to make sense of presenting behaviours that can be odd or puzzling
• about the development and maintenance of survival behaviours for traumatised children
• Polyvagal Theory and the concept of the “Window of Tolerance” helps us to understand emotional triggers and emotional regulation and dysregulation and how to calm a distressed child
• how blocked trust impacts how a traumatised child develops new attachments
• the importance of self-care for carers and professionals supporting traumatised children

Session Two: Learning Outcomes 

As a result of attending this training you can learn about:

• the imperative of safe and emotionally reparative relationships and experiences for supporting a child’s recovery from Developmental Trauma
• how trauma distorts a child’s perception of the world and how the child’s behaviour is often related to this
•  the importance of responding to the child’s developmental level rather than their chronological age for getting back on track with their development and recovery
• how to create a sense of safety in the child’s nervous system to maximise their potential for recovery
• the importance of co-regulation and the use of emotional styles of responding which will help calm distressed children and enable them to get back on track with emotional development and maturation.
• about the concept of behaviour as a communication and how to read what is the need expressed by a child/adolescent’s presenting with complex behaviour
• responding to behaviour -rupture and repair, natural and relational consequences, helping children feel safe enough to learn from experience

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